The growing economic and social crises of Nigerian capitalism manifesting as rising unemployment, degeneration of state bureaucracy as manifested in unprecedented levels of corruption despite the revenue crisis, rotten standing army exposed by Boko Haram insurgency, rise of self-defense movement in northern Nigeria, waves of economic strikes, #BringBackOurGirls protests etc; all these are features of the pre-revolutionary period we are passing through. With PDP as ruling party, masses understandably are angry with the party and desperately yearn for change. A genuine party workers, had it been in existence, would explain the crisis as that of capitalism and put forward a socialist alternative. In the absence of such party, a section of bourgeoisie under APC is, with various degrees of success, presenting the crisis as a crime of PDP, not that of the whole capitalist system itself. An incorruptible Buhari conveniently fits into this APC deceit. What is the attitude of Nigerian left to this situation? The ultraleft either dismisses the activity of the masses and denies the pre-revolutionary character of the present period simply because of this illusion in Buhari-led APC (Comrade Kola Ibrahim of DSM) or denies the existence of the illusion because of the pre-revolutionary character of the present period (Comrade Seni of NCP). The ultraleft cannot comprehend the coexistence of a Buhari illusion and a pre-revolutionary period. Admitting this coexistence is to this tendency opportunism i.e. tagging illusion in Buhari a progressive process. There is actually a section of Nigerian left, the opportunists, who think this way and adapt themselves to illusion in Buhari, throwing their support behind Buharis election bid. How do genuine Marxists of our tendency, Campaign for Workers Alternative approach this question. We fully recognize the pre-revolutionary character of the present period and the fact that masses have not yet arrived at revolutionary conclusions largely due to the absence of a revolutionary party. This has allowed illusion in Buhari-led APC whose main ideological content is hiding the class basis of the current upheavals. This means in practice rejection of PDP and supporting APC. As Marxists, we attack without any reservation the ideological basis of Buharism, which is hiding the class contradictions underlying the current economic and social crises. Practically, we have sympathy for the masses rejection of PDP and desire for change. But we try to explain to the masses that in as much as rejection of PDP is correct, the solution to the current crises lies not in another section of the bourgeoisie (APC) but in revolutionary socialist reconstruction of the society. It is true that the rot is that of Jonathan and PDP but it is also most importantly the rot of capitalism, the boundaries of which APC could not possibly overstep.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 06:37:51 +0000
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